Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017

• Alabama Upset
• TJ Nelson
• Bill Koehler
• Navarro Rising
• Williams Slur
• Windy Breed
• Class K
• Abstractions
• Witt Elves
• Little Dog
• Serial Liar
• Garbage Rates
• Emerald Address
• Underinsured
• Toy Drive
• Yesterday's Catch
• Night Missiles
• Nazi Subs
• Accordians
• Dance Project
• Warlock Hunt
• Thesaureans
• Even Richard Nixon Has Got Soul
• Koch Plutocracy
• Six Years
• Ed Lee

JONES WINS ALABAMA SENATE RACE IN A STUNNING UPSET OVER ROY MOORE

by Kim Chandler & Steve Peoples

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — In a stunning victory aided by scandal, Democrat Doug Jones won Alabama’s special Senate election on Tuesday, beating back history, an embattled Republican opponent and President Donald Trump, who urgently endorsed GOP rebel Roy Moore despite a litany of sexual misconduct allegations.

It was the first Democratic Senate victory in a quarter-century in Alabama, one of the reddest of red states, and proved anew that party loyalty is anything but sure in the age of Trump. The Republican loss was a major embarrassment for the president and a fresh wound for the nation’s already divided GOP.

“We have shown not just around the state of Alabama, but we have shown the country the way — that we can be unified,” Jones declared as supporters in a Birmingham ballroom cheered, danced and cried tears of joy. He added, “This entire race has been about dignity and respect.”

Moore, meanwhile, refused to concede and raised the possibility of a recount during a brief appearance at a somber campaign party in Montgomery.

“It’s not over,” Moore said. He added, “We know that God is still in control.”

From the White House, Trump graciously tweeted his congratulations to Jones “on a hard-fought victory” — but added pointedly that “the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!”

Jones takes over the seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The term expires in January of 2021.

The victory by Jones, a former U.S. attorney best known for prosecuting two Ku Klux Klansmen responsible for Birmingham’s infamous 1963 church bombing, narrows the GOP advantage in the U.S. Senate to 51-49. That imperils already-uncertain Republican tax, budget and health proposals and injects tremendous energy into the Democratic Party’s early push to reclaim House and Senate majorities in 2018.

Still, many Washington Republicans viewed the defeat of Moore as perhaps the best outcome for the party nationally despite the short-term sting. The fiery Christian conservative’s positions have alienated women, racial minorities, gays and Muslims — in addition to the multiple allegations that he was guilty of sexual misconduct with teens, one only 14, when he was in his 30s.

“Tonight’s results are clear — the people of Alabama deemed Roy Moore unfit to serve in the U.S. Senate,” said Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, who leads the national GOP’s Senate campaign arm and called on Moore to quit the race weeks ago.

A number of Republicans declined to support him, including Alabama’s long-serving Sen. Richard Shelby. But Trump lent his name and the national GOP’s resources to Moore’s campaign in recent days.

Had Moore won, the GOP would have been saddled with a colleague accused of sordid conduct as Republicans nationwide struggle with Trump’s historically low popularity. Senate leaders had promised that Moore would have faced an immediate ethics investigation.

Republicans on Capitol Hill have expressed hopes of scheduling a vote on their tax legislation before Jones is sworn in, but lawmakers are still struggling to devise a compromise bill to bridge the divide between the House and Senate legislation that can win majority support in both chambers.

The Republican loss also gives Democrats a clearer path to a Senate majority in 2018 — albeit a narrow one — in an election cycle where Democrats are far more optimistic about seizing control of the House of Representatives.

Ultimately, Tuesday’s contest came down to which side better motivated its supporters to vote. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said turnout likely would not exceed 25 percent of registered voters.

Jones successfully fought to cobble together an unlikely coalition of African-Americans, liberal whites and moderate Republicans.

At his election night headquarters, stunned supporters erupted in celebration as news of his victory was announced. Many danced to the song “Happy.” Some cried.

“I honestly did not know that this was even an option. I didn’t think that we could elect a Democrat,” said 26-year-old campaign volunteer Jess Eddington, her eyes red from tears of joy. “I am so proud we did.”

On the ground in Alabama on Tuesday, voters made clear that the election was about opposing Moore as well as supporting Jones, who was largely unknown before the campaign.

Teresa Brown, a 53-year-old administrative assistant, said she preferred Jones, in part, because he would be better positioned to work across party lines. “We don’t need a pedophile in there,” Brown added.

Mary Multrie, 69, who works in a children’s hospital, said she never liked Moore. “He talks about God, but you don’t see God in his actions.”

Moore, who largely avoided public events in the final weeks of the race and spent far less money on advertising than his opponent, bet big — and lost — on the state’s traditional Republican leanings and the strength of his passionate evangelical Christian supporters.

He sidestepped questions about sexual misconduct as he arrived at his polling place on horseback.

Democrats were not supposed to have a chance in Alabama, one of the most Republican-leaning states in the nation. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton here by nearly 28 points just 13 months ago. Yet Moore had political baggage that repelled some moderate Republicans even before allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced.

Virtually the entire Republican establishment, Trump included, supported Moore’s primary opponent, Sen. Luther Strange in September. Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, was one of the only early high-profile Moore backers.

Moore was once removed from his position as state Supreme Court chief justice after he refused to remove a boulder-sized Ten Commandments monument at the state court building. A second time, he was permanently suspended for urging state probate judges to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Said Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez: “The people of Alabama sent a loud and clear message to Donald Trump and the Republican Party: You can’t call yourself the party of family values as long as you’re willing to accept vile men like Roy Moore as members.”

(Associated Press)

SANTA ROSA RANCHLAND BROKER TJ NELSON DIES AT 86

(Nelson sold a lot of real estate in Anderson Valley, the late Rex McClellan worked for him)

by Chris Smith

TJ Nelson did many things well, perhaps none better than breakfast.

Born with the first name of Thomas but almost never called that, the highly sociable Nelson was a regular at Mac’s Deli & Café in downtown Santa Rosa and a frequent visitor to the city’s other favored morning meet-and-eateries.

“He loved keeping up with everybody,” said Kathy Story of Santa Rosa, one of the Sonoma County native’s five children.

Her father treasured also the challenge of finding just the right ranch or other piece of land for someone looking to settle in Sonoma or Mendocino counties. He worked as an independent real estate broker until just three weeks before his death Dec. 1 at his Santa Rosa home.

Nelson, a go-getter who took up bicycling in his mid 60s and at 76 pedaled with a son on a benefit ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, was 86.

He was born Jan. 3, 1931, in Petaluma. Following graduation from Petaluma High School he studied for a time at Santa Rosa Junior College but decided he needed work more than degrees.

He hired on as a chicken-feed salesman at the former R-Way Feed Co. in Santa Rosa, traveling from chicken ranch to chicken ranch, making not just customers of the ranchers but friends.

In 1951, Nelson made the biggest pitch of his life: he asked Dorothy “Scooter” Hardin to marry him. He’d been sweet on her since junior high school in Petaluma. But she resisted, and after high school went away to college.

Whenever Hardin would return to Sonoma County, daughter Story said, “He would still be there waiting for her.

“And he finally won.”

They’d be married for 66 years.

It was in 1965 that Nelson switched from making sales calls at ranches to selling them. He opened TJ Nelson & Associates, Ranch and Land Brokers, in Santa Rosa. In short order, he created one satellite office in the back of the Redwood Drive-In in Boonville and a second in Willits. Later he consolidated to a single office in Windsor.

Glenda Sales went to work for him 20 years ago, discovering that he could be curmudgeonly but also great fun, and that he’d do anything for anyone who dealt with him honestly.

“He was the saint of second chances. He was like a dad to me,” said Sales, who became Nelson’s partner in TJ Nelson & Associates and now owns the business.

When Nelson wasn’t working, he relished bicycling, passing time with family and friends, and tending his backyard garden.

A third-generation Sonoma County resident, he promoted local business and was proud that his three children who live locally work for Exchange Bank, Memorial Hospice and Friedman’s Home Improvement.

Nelson’s death at home followed a brief siege of gallbladder cancer.

In addition to his wife and daughter in Santa Rosa, he is survived by sons Rolf and Chris Nelson, also of Santa Rosa, Eric Nelson of Fortuna and Kurt Nelson of El Dorado Hills; a sister, Joan Nelson Elam of Rocklin; a brother, John Nelson of Petaluma; and seven grandchildren.

There will be a celebration of TJ Nelson’s life at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Friedman Event Center.

His family suggests memorial contributions to Memorial Hospice, 439 College Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95401, 4676 Mayette Avenue, Santa Rosa 95405.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

FROM JOHN SAKOWICZ:

It saddens me to report that William "Bill" Koehler, General Manager of the Millview & Redwood Valley County Water Districts, passed away yesterday afternoon in Mexico. I have no further details at this time.

DON’T BE SURPRISED IF CALTRANS CLOSES HWY 128 AGAIN

The Navarro River sandbar shows no sign of breaching and the backflow is now “well over” the fog line of Hwy 128 just East of the Hwy 1 bridge.

Authorities here refuse to “manually” breach the “sacred cow sandbar” at the mouth of the Navarro - while they have no qualm “manually” breaching the Russian River sandbar when Jenner is threatened with flooding. They did it last month.

The USGS Navarro River gauge (located upstream) read 3.58’ and it was sending 223 gallons per second toward the mouth - that’s 13,380 gallons per minute or 802,800 gasoline per hour and 19,267,200 gallons per day.

CalTrans closed Hwy 128 for 36 hours (November 20 - 22) when the sandbar refused to breach.

(Courtesy, MendocinoSportsPlus)

ED NOTES

NO SOONER had Ted Williams announced that he'd be a candidate for 5th District supervisor, a caller left this message on our nut screener: "Another doper in the 5th seat? No way." Click.

WE THINK Mr. Williams is a fine candidate. We first encountered him when he was a high school computer wizard who helped us clarify an argument we were in with the first incarnation of MCN. Since his precocious youth, Mr. W has lived in Albion for many years and has converted that early computer wizardry into a prosperous life for himself and his young family. He has also served the Coast community for many years as a volunteer emergency services guy. After years of grifters and incompetents occupying the 5th District seat, Williams is a definite step forward.

WE ASKED THE CANDIDATE about the caller's marijuana slur: "I’ve never been a part of the cannabis economy. I won’t need to recuse myself, which is important given the impact of prop 64 on our county economy. My profession is software development. A rough bio is at http://ted.net"

LONDON BREED as San Francisco's mayor with the sudden death of Ed Lee is likely to be a lateral move in political terms, characterized by the kind of inert drift the city that used to know how was accustomed to with Lee. The major problems of affordable housing shortages and more and more of the walking wounded won't be addressed other than rhetorically. Breed is a windy liberal with zero to show for her decade in office.

IT WAS positively inspiring to see so many Anderson Valley people at Monday morning's meeting of the Board’s Public Health, Safety, and Resources Standing Committee (made up of just John McCowen and Dan Hamburg) to lament and oppose the requirement for fire sprinklers and other new requirements in new housing construction under Mendo’s decades old Class K ordinance. Making cogent, non-duplicative arguments (but mainly to keep construction simpler and costs down) to “Keep The Cabin Code,” were AV residents Stephanie Gold, Dennis Toohey, Robert ‘Captain Rainbow’ Salsbury, Jim Boudoures, Darius Richmond, Jeff Ellis, Greg Krouse, Angela DeWitt, and Larry Mailliard — plus several others all in opposition to essentially gutting Class K. In short, AV people, like most people in the County, want the Class K rule book left as is and oppose imposition of indoor sprinklers and perimeter foundations and such which, as Captain Rainbow pointed out, will drive more people into trailers because trailers don't require sprinklers or into a kind of unpermitted outlaw construction world. Greg Krouse, Philo, said he knew a person who simply put a garden sprinkler on top of the OUTside of his house, logically assuming that in this area the fire hazard mostly comes from without not from within. The County's position, boiled down, is that they have to go for sprinklers because the state's demanding them and they have very little choice. The only reason it came up is that a planner thought the Class K ordinance should be “updated” to new building codes, never mind that there’s been no problem or complaint about it for lo these many decades. Too bad they couldn’t have simply not brought it up. The committee asked staff to prepare a legal opinion and some slightly tweaked — but still Class K killing — language and bring it back before the Board in January or February. In all likelihood the legal opinion will be that even the small proposed tweaks will be ruled out.

ISN'T IT PAST TIME to demand precision from people who promiscuously label and doom others as "racists," "sexists," "homophobes" and on through the categories of doom. Many people may categorically dislike, in theory, great swathes of their fellow Americans while on an everyday basis they are practicing liberals, carrying on amicable everyday relations with a full range of people they don't tolerate in the abstract.

KARL WITT, a HumCo marijuana bigwig, was arraigned this afternoon in Mendocino County Superior Court.

Witt is charged with "possessing marijuana for sale using underaged individuals, a felony." Witt was southbound for the Emerald Cup in Santa Rosa with his underage helpers when he was stopped near Willits. The arresting officers found "one thousand four hundred nineteen (1,419) "stoner stocking stuffers," as one Courthouse staffer described Witt's packaging. The defendant has two felony priors in Wisconsin, one for felony aggravated battery.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “I thought the deadbeat cat, Skrag, was going to test my new safe space policy when he strolled insolently past today. I'm not a violent dog, but if he said one derogatory word I was going to jump his impudent ass. But lucky for him he walked on, probably headed for another free meal.”

JUSTICE? YES, JUSTICE

Dear Editor:

With your permission, let me please set the record straight in regards to misinformation in a recent letter published from jail inmate Joshua Clayton Hanover. Taken to its essence, Hanover's letter complains that he negotiated a plea bargain with me to avoid prison but, to his feigned public dismay, is instead receiving a 12 year state prison sentence for his involvement in the bungled Jackson Five kidnapping and robbery caper on Covelo Road.

First, Hanover is certainly a pathetic criminal. In an early ill-conceived effort to save himself, Hanover lied to law enforcement investigators when he was originally arrested, lies that initially led to criminal charges being filed against and arrest warrants sought for two innocent men. We quickly caught on to Hanover's ruse and corrected this miscarriage of justice in the making.

Thereafter, Hanover also offered to provide "insider" information to law enforcement as to the whereabouts of then fugitive Trevor Jackson in exchange for some sort of self-serving local deal. Participating in this further scam with a person of Hanover's ilk was never considered by the prosecution. As an aside, Hanover’s "offer" was bogus and an epic fail because Hanover lacked access to credible information about the whereabouts of his supposed "friend." In an end of the game Hail Mary, Hanover finally tried to offer himself up as state’s evidence against all of his fellow robbery buddies, an offer that also was not considered because of Hanover's propensity for lying.

Hanover’s recent letter to the AVA is a manifestation of that propensity, one awash with crocodile tears.

Second, my local prosecutors and I will continue to apply a heavy hand of justice to those in and about our communities — be it locals or temporary visitors — who exercise life altering bad judgment in choosing to participate in robberies, kidnappings, and other violent crimes against the local citizenry.

Justice, asks Hanover? Yes, Justice, Mr. Hanover; and there will continue to be more of the same justice available for those like you who turn to violent crime and callously prey on others as you did. In a perfect world — meaning let's hope that voter approved Proposition 57 doesn't intervene — no one should plan on seeing Mr. Hanover locally anytime during the next 10 years.

Thank you for this opportunity to set the record straight.

C. David Eyster, District Attorney, Mendocino County

Ukiah

GARBAGE RATES COMPLICATED BY OUR HABITS

We understand why so many Ukiahans were alarmed when they got notices from the city about the garbage rates going up significantly. Lots of Ukiahans have been dutifully recycling and cutting back on their overall garbage production only to see their rates going up.

Unfortunately, some Ukiahans are not doing such a good job at recycling correctly and the world market for recyclables is in the dumper at the moment.

Solid Waste Systems, the city’s garbage hauler tells us that China has stopped taking much of America’s recylables, which has cut the revenue the hauler gets from collecting them.

Add to that the amount of actual garbage that shows up in the local recycle bins each week, forcing the company to take time and effort to remove things that are not recyclable or not clean enough to pass on as recyclables. Put those together and the company can no longer afford to subsidize the very low small garbage bin rates, which basically were paid for by the revenue from recycling.

So we don’t really have any beef with the company’s need to raise rates and rearrange the garbage haul.

However, we do think this situation could have been avoided to some extent with better education on recycling.

Here are some things we think lots of people did not know:

• What exactly is recyclable? Some plastics are, some not. You apparently have to check a special resin code. Who does that? For instance, some people still think pizza boxes are recyclable, when actually they belong in the green waste for composting.
• We all know that metals are recyclable, but most of us did not know that anything made of aluminum like cans, or foil or pie tins, have to be cleaned off before recycling or they get tossed into the garbage.
• What’s paper? What’s cardboard? Is a dog food bag paper? Seems like it should be, but we’re told not.

When recycling first started to become a habit for people, you had to have separate bins for glass, metal, and plastic. Lots of people didn’t want to be bothered so they didn’t recycle at all. Then garbage companies decided it was worth it to let people mix all their recyclables together and separate them at transfer stations. That helped increase recycling significantly. But on the way we either became lazy, or needed lots more reminding of how to recycle properly. Also, the local hauler thinks there’s a lot of non-recyclable material going into recycle bins simply because the resident has filled his or her regular garbage can.

There’s nothing we can do locally about the world market in recyclables, but we suspect that even though China may be bowing out, some other country will pick up the slack and decide it’s worth it. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon. (We also think the state of California should have a subsidy in place to manage the ups and downs of the recycling market so that rates can remain stable during these market variations. Raising rates on, or eliminating entirely, small can garbage hauling only discourages people from cutting back on landfill content.)

We understand that the city may feel obligated to raise the rates as outlined by the local hauler and we are glad to hear they intend to help low income people with the rate increase. But we also think the city should be certain to let the hauler know that as soon as the recyclables market turns around, we expect local rates to come down again, something that almost never happens.

— K.C. Meadows (Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

SUPERVISOR MCCOWEN SPEAKS OUT FOR FARMERS AT EMERALD CUP EXTRAVAGANZA IN SANTA ROSA

by Jane Futcher

Mendocino County Supervisor John McCowen gave a rousing shout-out to small farmers in his keynote address at the Emerald Cup kick-off Saturday at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds. Too bad nobody heard him.

Only a few dozen folks were on hand for the remarkable speech, which could not compete with the sunshine outside and dazzlingly packaged cannabis goodies being sampled in the 215 area. Many of those products are poised to enter the legal statewide adult-use cannabis market Jan. 1.

Back in “Sativa Hall,” the 2nd District Supervisor urged state legislators to be flexible, doing everything they can to allow small legacy cultivators to have a viable “path forward” to permits and licenses.

“Cannabis cultivators have survived 80 years of prohibition,” McCowen said.”You have survived 20 years of state ambiguity. Can you survive state regulation and legalization?”

McCowen stressed the need for the state to allow cultivators to transport their own products, get permits for special retail events, and leave it up to local law enforcement to determine if security plans are sufficient rather than requiring expensive, “one-size-fits-all” standards.

“One of the big fears,” McCowen asserted, “is that regulation would pave the way for corporate takeover. And unfortunately, that’s a reality that is looming large right now. It may not be intentional on the part of the state agencies, but when the costs and complexity of compliance becomes too great then many of the legacy cultivators are having to ask themselves, can I really do this? Does it make sense for me to go forward applying for a local permit and a state license?

“And that will be a tragedy if the people who have advocated for regulation for years decide they are not able to participate because the cost or complexity is too steep.”

McCowen touted Mendocino County’s commitment to small farms, including: allowing farms no larger than 10,000 square feet; issuing permits only to farmers who have proof of cultivation prior to Jan. 1, 2016 until 2020, to help them get up and running before outsiders can get permits; and taxing farmers on percentage of their sales rather than square footage so that if they lose their crops they won’t have to pay taxes on them.

The supervisor thanked Emerald Cup producer Tim Blake for his “visionary” leadership and tipped his hat to small farmers applying for permits.

“I hope that we at the local level and the state will be more open to being flexible, understanding the challenges and meeting you where you are, because you’re the folks that again have advocated for legalization and regulation who wanted to do everything you can to be legally compliant. I think it’s part of our job to try to help you get there.”

Dozens of panels Saturday and Sunday were designed to help farmers with cultivation and permitting issues, including a packed workshop Sunday called “What to expect on Jan. 2, 2018?” Chief Lori Ajax of the Bureau of Cannabis Control was joined by Richard Parrott, Director of CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing and representatives from the Department of Public Health and Safety and the Department of Tax and Fee Administration (formerly the Board of Equalization).

Ajax reviewed the license types (outdoor, indoor and mixed light) and urged farmers with local permits to apply soon. The state will begin issuing free 120-day temporary licenses Jan. 1, and they may be extended for two additional 90-day periods and sunset Jan. 1 2019. She said temporary cannabis event licenses for up to 4 days will be available on state fair or certain agricultural premises.

Parrott of CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing, said temporary cultivation licensees won’t be required to use the track and trace system, and that the state will begin to provide training on using the system in January.

Canopy, Parrott said, is definied by square footage of mature plants.

Another intriguing panel was “Tools for stabilizing the future of California’s Traditional Outdoor Cannabis Farmer.”

Genine Coleman, Executive Director of the Mendocino Appellations Project, and Erich Pearson of SPARC in Sonoma County, stressed mandatory labeling designating the county of origin as the French have done with wines, and identifying the soil and terroir of plants and their origin as a branding and marketing approach.

Michael Steinmetz of Flow Kana outlined the model his own company is using in Mendocino and Southern Humboldt, helping small outdoor organic farmers compete with large consolidated farms by creating an organized supply chain of small farmers as Sunkist has done with orange farmers.

Moderator Dustin Moore and Sacramento attorney Louie Brown advocated for the creation of the state’s first cannabis commission, still unnamed, to help brand and educate and lobby for cannabis, as other agriculture commissions have done in the rice and grape industries.

As for contest winners — and the Emerald Cup is a contest — Sunnabis of Humboldt County was named winner in the Innovative category for its “Festival Throat Spray.”

Molecular Farms took home first place in the flowers category for its “Lemon Crush.” Utopia Farms placed first in the edibles category for its Peanut Butter Macaroon. The Squishery won in the tinctures category for its “1:1 Tincture.” Newell’s Botanicals got top prize in topicals for its “Deep Skin Penetrating Topical Oil.” Soil Kind Solventless Experience won Best Booth Award.

Dale Gieringer, the state coordinator since 1987 of California NORML — the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws — won a lifetime achievement award. A second lifetime achievement award went to Steph Sherer, founder and executive director of Americans for Safe Access, for her advocacy for medical cannabis patients.

With nearly 20,000 people attending, fairgoers appeared well pleased with this year’s event. As one happy customer wrote on a Facebook page: “It was an incredible event. Liberating, stimulating, exciting and showcasing of the best of the best — both in product and people in this industry. Well done!!”

 

 

 

 

(Jane Futcher is host of The Cannabis Hour on KZYX.)

SURPRISE: FIRE VICTIMS FIND THEY ARE UNDERINSURED

Many displaced homeowners are discovering that they will likely have to pay tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket as they process their claims, according to fire victims and attorneys.

pressdemocrat.com/business/7742085-181/hundreds-of-north-bay-fire

* * *

RE FIRE INSURANCE, A READER WRITES: I have always tried to keep my insurance up to date and adequate. A few years ago the insurer sent someone out to my house to look inside and out and they recommended the coverage we had, which seemed reasonable at the time. This spring my agent called about my renewal and concluded that the current level was sufficient. Now that our home is a vacant lot 20-20 hindsight is all the rage. But prior to the fire no one said plan on $400-$500 per sq ft rebuild costs, or that you would not only lose your house, but also your foundation, driveway, walkways, storage sheds, fences and all your landscaping. All I can say is all of you wise folks out there should be glad if you still have a house and can review and increase your insurance, because I bet most are not insured for a TOTAL LOSS.

CHRISTMAS TOY DRIVE

This weekend, Saturday, December 16 & Sunday, December 17, the final weekend of the 2nd annual Anderson Valley Holiday Passport Wine Weekends will see 20 passport stops accepting new unwrapped toy donations for the AV Fire Department to distribute to local children in need of additional holiday cheer.

Passport participants include (eastward from the deep end) Lula Cellars, Handley Cellars, Roederer Estate, Husch Vineyards, Greenwood Ridge Vineyards, Navarro Vineyards, Brutocao Cellars, The Pot Shop (pottery), Toulouse Vineyards, Scharffenberger Cellars, Witching Stick, Balo Vineyards, Domaine Anderson, Lichen Estate, Seebass Family Winery, Philo Ridge Vineyards, Foursight Wines, Pennyroyal Farm, Meyer Family Cellars, and Artevino/Maple Creek Winery.

$15 tickets are available through Thursday, December 14 at www.avwines.com, or at each participating passport host for $20 at the door, and include a passport, commemorative event logo glass, and wristband. Each stop will offer tastings and holiday food bites. Collect six passport stamps and be entered into a drawing for two tickets to the Anderson Valley Aromatic White wine Festival's grand Tasting in February of 2018.

In addition to partnering with the Anderson Valley Fire Department on toy collection efforts, the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association (AVWA) raised over $6,500 for the Anderson Valley Housing Association, over $18,000 for the Anderson Valley Health Clinic, over $2,000 for the Anderson Valley Education Foundation, and over $4,000 for the fire relief efforts in Mendocino, Sonoma, and Napa counties. AVWA also represented 15 winery members at the ChefsGiving fire relief benefit in San Francisco that raised over $750,000, and was instrumental in the formation of #CAWineStrong which helped raise millions of dollars for fire relief and recovery efforts.

CATCH OF THE DAY, December 12, 2017-12-12

ROBERT DOUGLAS, Ukiah. Community supervision violation.

JACOB GOTTSCHALL, Boise, Idaho/Ukiah. Receiving stolen property.

MARIA LITZIN, Covelo. Battery with serious injury.

VICTOR LUCAS, Ukiah. False ID, failure to appear.

BRYAN MARTIN, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

MICHAEL MCCLELLAN, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

JORDAN PARKER, Lakeport/Ukiah. DUI-alcohol&drugs.

MICHAEL PARKER, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

JUSTIN PRESSLEY, Redwood Valley. Domestic abuse.

CHERRI ROBERTS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer)

GERALD SIMPSON, Willits. County parole violation.

ALAN SIMPSON was appalled by the injustice of it all. Back in 1991, during the incendiary Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings, the salty Republican senator from Wyoming was very concerned at the idea that a woman would wait many years after a disturbing encounter and then “come out of the night like a missile and destroy a man.” It has been a rough spell for men whose primal fear is women coming out of the night like missiles. — Maureen Dowd

HIDDEN HISTORY

Editor,

Of course, everyone knows what happened on Dec. 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, but I think few know what happened on Dec. 11. That was the day when the Nazis stabbed us in the back. Germany declared war on us.

So while our country struggled to stop the advance of Japanese forces in the Pacific, there was another struggle going on just off the East Coast. Submarines soon arrived and began sinking ships traveling along the coast. There were no defenses in place for some time, so the subs just sat on the surface and attacked every ship they saw. Often they wouldn’t waste torpedoes on a ship but attack it with their deck gun.

This was kept secret from the people at the time. The only thing most people saw was oil washing up on the shore, but people living on the Outer Banks in North Carolina had a close-up view.

The first ship was sunk on Jan. 13, 1942. The attacks continued until August when, finally, our defenses became effective. At that point, the subs were relocated to the North Atlantic crossing routes.

The damage was very large. All told, 233 ships were sunk. About 100 were damaged, and 5,000 crew, passengers and defense people were killed.

Thomas Harvey

Sebastopol

FOR HOURS of joy and pleasure. Accordions are in! "Who is most wanted at every party? Who attracts friends like bees to honey? Who can make extra money any time! Why, you, of course, when you play a La Tosca accordion!"

https://tinyurl.com/AccordionAdsOfYore

MENDOCINO DANCE PROJECT COMES TO THE MTC STAGE!

The Mendocino Theatre Company presents the Mendocino Dance Project on our charming and intimate Helen Schoeni Theater on the grounds of the Mendocino Art Center this Friday, December 15th at 7:30 PM and Saturday, December 16th at 2 PM and 7:30 PM. This local company brings athleticism and skill to dance, exploring themes such as the fierceness and softness of a woman; the quality and significance of elasticity; the untold stories of living.  General admission tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for youth 18 and under. Purchase your tickets in advance by visiting mendocinotheatre.org or calling the box office at 707-937-4477.

THE WARLOCK HUNT

by Claire Berlinski

the-american-interest.com/2017/12/06/the-warlock-hunt/

MULTIPLE: A SINGLE WORD CLICHÉ

You see it everywhere in print and hear it from the talking heads on TV—using "multiple" when "many" is all the writer/speaker is saying: "A storm that moved through the region early Sunday caused havoc on Bay Area highways as multiple crashes and fatalities were reported."

Sometimes a writer/speaker striving to avoid using good old "many" will use "myriad" instead.

And why is it better to say/write "garner" than plain old "get"?

— Rob Anderson, District5diary

BEL-AIR FIRE 1961

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Social Security was always called the “third rail” of politics, i.e., to touch it was to risk a fatal jolt of electricity. But Paul Ryan went on record last week as saying once the tax ‘reform’ bill is passed that he’ll turn his attention to Social Security and Medicare in 2018.

Ryan intends to cut those programs to pay for tax cuts to the top 1% and to please his owners, the Koch bros, whose goal for decades has been to kill FDR’s New Deal and LBJ’s Great Society.

The Koch bros see both programs as “communism” as defined by their late father, Fred Koch, who left them a fortune and also founded the John Birch Society whose goals the Kochs intend to implement via puppets like Ryan.

The Kochs and their network of wealthy donors ponied up $890M to win the 2016 election and they will spend like that until they die and/or we stop them by voting DEM. Spending by this cabal of plutocrats dwarfs the puny spending of George Soros, et al.

“I see you serving a six-year term, but not in the Senate.”

SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR ED LEE WAS A MAYOR WHO WASN’T A POLITICIAN

by C.W. Nevius

Ed Lee loved corny jokes, local sports teams and playing golf.

Being mayor? Eh, maybe not so much.

I got to know Lee in 2011, when he was an anonymous city bureaucrat who had just been appointed mayor and I was writing a city politics column for the San Francisco Chronicle.

That year, Lee was enthusiastically promoted for the office by the late Rose Pak, his longtime ally and Chinatown political powerhouse. You wouldn’t say he was a reluctant candidate. His heels only left small skid marks as Pak shoved him into the spotlight.

That was when Mayor Gavin Newsom resigned to become lieutenant governor. The Board of Supervisors had to appoint someone to hold the office until the regular election, 11 months in the future.

Easy Ed, a nice, non-political guy and former head of Public Works, seemed like a safe, non-threatening choice. But before they voted him in, just to be sure, the Board made him promise he wouldn’t run for mayor.

The fiery Pak, of course, wasn’t having it. She was hell-bent on electing San Francisco’s first Asian mayor, and she pushed Lee relentlessly. When venture capitalist Ron Conway signed on for financial support, Lee broke his promise and announced he would run for the 2012 term.

A lot of people never forgave him. I never got that.

Lee came into office in a recession. Unemployment was trending toward double digits. Tech game-changers like Lyft and Uber were barely concepts.

And things got better. Lee had some ideas — give tech companies a tax break to locate in the war zone that was mid-Market Street. He also benefited from a national recovery.

But the point was: if things are going well, and we have a mayor people like, why shouldn’t he serve a four-year term?

In one of those define-the-city elections, Lee’s opponent was progressive firebrand John Avalos. When he lost to Lee by 10 percentage points, it made you think San Francisco wasn’t quite as crazy and out there as advertised.

Once in office Mayor Lee was a bit of a work in progress. He tended to begin speeches — regardless of topic — by shouting, “How about those (fill in name of currently trending local sports team)?”

Rhetoric did not soar, hearts were not set to fluttering. He had a tendency toward malaprops. One year he informed a big crowd at a Warriors’ tip-off luncheon that they’d all be getting a “bobby-head” doll when they left.

But what did we expect? This was a man who had never been elected to public office in his life.

Of course, one thing about being mayor in San Francisco. You don’t have search out controversies. They come at you, unbidden, at 100 mph.

The building of the Warriors new arena had fits and starts, there were gripes about the cost and location of the new central subway. (Odd that it goes virtually to the front door of Rose Pak, critics said.)

And tragically, shootings of unarmed black citizens by the police kicked off city-wide protests and resulted in the dismissal of Police Chief Greg Suhr.

Lee didn’t hold Willie Brown/Newsom-style press conferences — spellbinding lectures on the values and virtues of the city. Instead, he got in a car and went down to talk to the protesters. (Who, missing a golden photo op, refused to meet him.)

That was Lee. If something was broken, his default response was to make it work. One of his proudest achievements was the creation of the “Fix-it Team.” It was an on-call group that took complaints from the neighborhoods. They repaired potholes, replaced street lights and cleaned up trash. And, as a recent Chronicle column noted, sometimes Lee joined them, wearing a reflective vest and pitching in.

I once played golf with Lee, which I only mention because you can tell a lot about someone from a round of golf. Lee was — no surprise — not a club-thrower. When he hit a bad shot he wasn’t mad, just bemused and mildly disappointed.

Neither of us was going to qualify for the U.S. Open, but we hacked it around in as pleasant a morning as you are likely to enjoy. It was a fine, low-key, no politics experience. We always said we were going to play again.

On the night Donald Trump won the election, I saw Lee at a downtown party and he waved me over. It was supposed to be all set, he said. When Hillary Clinton won the presidency, he was going to go to Washington with her — probably for a cabinet post.

That had been the rumor for a while. At one point he was asked if he was on Clinton’s “short list.”

“At my height (5’ 5”) I’m always on the short list,” he said.

But now, he said, it’s not going to happen. He was going to go back to being mayor. He sounded a little resigned.

But it should be said that Lee won three elections — one with the Board of Supervisors, and two city-wide. If he’d finished his second term, he would have been the second-longest serving San Francisco mayor in 70 years.

And the “Ed Lee era” can boast some accomplishments. He got the Warriors’ arena located, pushed affordable housing and improved the blighted stretch of mid-Market.

Of course, everyone will have their own memories. Mine is a time after an interview in his office. When we finished he told me to wait. He left and came back with golf balls and two putters.

We went to the long, long hall outside his office. A cup had been set up at the far end of the carpet and he wanted to know if I’d be interested in a putting contest.

Of course I would. I went first and left the ball pretty close. Lee’s approach was also right there, but it seemed to me, at that distance, mine was closer.

“Nope,” said an aide, sweeping both balls away, “the mayor always wins.”

So here’s to rounds of golf left unplayed.

Godspeed Mr. Mayor.

(San Francisco Chronicle)